Steiner Military 4-16X50 G2B Review

The Virginian

The Virginian

New member
This review has been on my todo list for while and since I write like molasses in wintertime, I hope to have it finished here soon.

I sold off a pistol and an 204 Ruger upper to purchase my first really nice piece of glass. Basically I was looking for 15 to 25 power, illuminated, mildot, and FFP for bonus points if I got lucky. I was set on purchasing a used NightForce after I gathered my money together and set out to start looking. I've been watching the ads on several different forums but I always seemed to be a day late and dollar short on what I was looking for. I hope to give an honest review from my perspective and I welcome any comments or criticisms. This will be a work in progress so I'll do my best to update this thread as I go along. I will post my thoughts, good and bad and be truthful with my results that I find.

http://www.steiner-optics.com/

This scope was purchased from one of our own here on PM; Mike at CS Tactical. He's a stand up guy with first class customer service. Please give him a try if you're in a the market for new optics.
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Steiner has been making strides to get back into the high end scope arena after a 20 year sabbatical.They were top of the heap in their day and they are still one of the very best binoculars you can buy today. This particular model is a 2012 Military and they have since redesigned this lineup for 2014 under the new name of M5Xi. I was lucky enough to get a tremendous closeout price on this scope new!

Steiner is the only manufacturer who has developed binoculars and also rifle scopes now, which are suitable for government, law enforcement and military departments. Their specialists are improving and developing it further in close cooperation with some of the most important military forces in the world.




This is what I felt like when it finally arrived in the mail. My Precious!!!!


Let's start with the specs (the glossy brochure version):

- Magnification - 4 to 16x
- Objective size - 50mm
- Magnification change 4x
- FOV @ 100 meters - >= 8,7 to 2,4 meters
- Exit pupil - 12,5 to 3,1 mm
- Eye relief - 77 to 90mm
-Twilight factor - 14,1 - 28,3
- Battery - CR2450
- Diopter setting - +2 to -3 diopters
- Tube diameter - 34mm
- Focal Plane Location - First Focal Plane
- Reticle - G2B-Mildot
- Illumination - Rotary Digital Control
- Operating Temperature: -25 to +63C
- Storage Temperature: -35 to +70C
- Nitrogen Pressure Filling - Fog Proof Inside
- Water Pressure Proof - up to 5 m
- Elevation Adjustment - Knob resettable to zero with Wrench visual & tactile indication of turns
- Elevation Adjustment Increments - 1 cm (.010 mrad)
- Elevation range at 100 meters - 195 cm (19.5 mils)
- Windage Adjustment Increment - 1 cm (.010 mrad)
- Windage range: +- 47cm (4.7 mils)
- Parallax adjustment knob - Side mounted, rotary
- Parallax adjustment - 50 m to infinity
- Weight with caps - 995 g
- Length at zero diopter - 409 mm

I will being using standard measurements, not metric with regards to my remarks on this review as I am American.

- Broad band Anti Reflection coated optic guarantee a maximum light transmission of greater than 90 %.
- 4 x zoom factor provides a scope which has both a wide field of view at low power plus the ability to zoom up and bring far objects into clear focus.
- A rugged 34 mm compact 1-pc main tube construction.
- Integrated rotary knob system with digital illumination and parallax adjustment combined in left side turret for comfort and ease of use with or without gloves on.
- 11 Illumination steps (7 Night & 4 Day) with two off-positions at each end, plus 10 standby (light-off) settings.
- Front focal plane, so sub-tension remains unchanged over the magnification range for quick
and easy target identification and accuracy.
- Illuminated, glass etched Mil-Dot reticle.
- Fully waterproof to 5 meters.
- Shock proof to 900 G's.
- Nitrogen filled to be fog proof inside.
- Aircraft grade machined aluminum knobs for positive grip and durability in all conditions.

I should mention that I do not test my scopes for durability, I do not destroy them. They go through my normal usage in my hands in climatic conditions, dusty, cold and hot. Not very challenging for a heavy duty military tactical scope... So to me this scope is the holy grail that I've worked years for to afford. I do spend a lot of time fondling nice glass of my friends, NF, Schmidt & Bender, Premier, March, etc. I will admit that I tend to lean towards European glass as a rule of thumb.

I'm mounting this scope on a Dakota Arms Predator 6mm BR Norma that I purchased used over a year ago. This rifle has never fired a single shot and has safe rash on it here and there in it's travels over the years to me. I hope to shoot this rifle long distance out to 700 to 800 yards and improve my long distance shooting. I won't comment on the rifle too much as this is a scope review and if I find time I'll write about the Predator rifle.

This rifle came with Talley ring bases which I've never used before. So I purchased some Talley rings and they seem to be of good quality and reputation. I was worried about putting marks on the scope from the rings but in the end I just mounted it. When I leave this world, I'll let the next guy worry about it. Until then, I'm going to enjoy it.



(more to come)
 
I find it interesting how people mount their scopes. It seems everyone has a slightly different method. I will attempt to share how I do it so y'all can have a chuckle...

I start by getting the rifle absolutely level. I purchased two bubble levels and set them on ant flat surface on the rifle. In this example I set them on top of the two Talley bases. This gives me two points of reference that the rifle is indeed level.



I assembled the Talley rings loosely around the scope and mount the scope. All screws are loose and enable you to rotate or slide the scope right to left or forward to back. I check for my eye relief and all that's left it to get the scope absolutely level. I place one of the button bubble levels on top of the turret and use this as a reference.



When it's level I cross tighten the screws, like tightening your lug nuts on your rim for your car. Applying torque to each screw opposite of each other. Torque to the spec required for the scope and your done. If you wish to check your work, run a plumb line (thick twine with a weight tied to it and hang it from say a door knob) and level the rifle & line it up to the plumb line to see if they match your vertical line on your reticle.



(more to come)
 
The Steiner G2B Mil-Dot is a bit of a hybrid reticle. It's your standard mil-dot but with hash marks in between the mil-dots. I really like this type of reticle.



These pictures I'm sharing with you by no means are a representation of the quality of the glass. They were taken this evening as dusk was settling in and I was rushed to get them taken. So please don't judge the quality on these pictures. The distance across the lake at about 600 yards on 4x power.



Same distance at 600 yards on 16x power. Not bad!



The illuminated reticle has 11 settings. What's notable here is that of the 11 settings, 4 (8 - 11) are very bright for daytime usage. Take a look at the rotating switch for the illumination. It has an "off" in between each setting so you don't have to go from say 0 to setting 7 to get to the level of illumination that you like. One click, you're there.



Here's a picture of the daytime illumination.



And my set up for taking these pictures. I usually get questions on how I take pictures through the scope. I use a devise called the Orion SteadyPix Deluxe Camera Mount. I take a lot of scope cam film clips in slow motion and this set up works great for most bolt rifles, ARs the slide interferes. The price is about $50 bones delivered. When attached I use the view finder on the camera to take the shot. Kind of cool actually and works well with bolt rifles.

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(more to come)
 
Steiner turrets were easily the lightest of all the high end scopes I fondled. They are easy to use, but the feel was certainly less crisp than with the other scopes that I checked out. I called Steiner and they said send it in and the would fix it. Steiner 4-16x50 scope that I received had notably firmed up clicks. Second turn indicator is a sleeve that slides up and down the turret and exposes the right markings depending on which turret turn your on. It works well for me and seemed to be really tightly fitted. I did spin the turrets on this scope a lot and I am more than comfortable trusting these adjustments.

One of the most unusual attention grabbing features of this scope is the size of the turrets. They are huge in size with deep machined flutes at the top edge which provides a positive grip for both gloved and bare hands allowing an easy grasp in all conditions. They have a total of 32.5 Mrad of internal adjustment, the elevation turret allows for two clockwise revolutions of well marked laser etched .1 Milliradian (Mrad) adjustments. They are very precise and definitive clicks, with 10 Mrad of elevation adjustment for the first revolution, and a further 9.5 Mrad on the second rotation for a total of 19.5Mrad of available internal elevation adjustment. The elevation turret features a solid zero stop precisely at the 0 hash mark and has a visual and dexterous multiple turn indication. An unusual aspect of the elevation turret is the indicator that pops out on the second turn. The most notable of which is the small double turn indicator button the protrudes from below the elevation turret once it is rotated to the 9.7 Mrad increment. A visual aid to tell where you are at on the 2 turn capability of this scope. The second revolution doesn't complete a full 10 Mrad because of the design of the zero stop pin and cam for the dual turn indicator button.

Here's a picture with is retracted.


Here's a picture with the indicator extended on the second turn of the turret.



The windage turret is the same size and adjustment as the elevation turret. Again, crisp .1 Mrad increments marked with hash marks and a numeric value every .5 Mrad. Total adjustment is 5.0 Mrad of adjustment in both directions. The windage turret has a multi turn indicator so you can identify how much internal lateral adjustment has been used to make it easy to return to zero.


The parallax drum houses the rheostat of the illuminated reticle & is numbered from 50 m, then in 100 m increments to 1,000 m and infinity. It is smooth and has enough resistance to not be activated brushing up against your gear in the field or inadvertently adjusted. The rheostat and battery housing is a separate smaller turret. 11 settings as noted above. I should note that there's no blooming observed during daylight conditions.


(more to come)
 
The magnification adjustment has a rubber coated ring forward of the ocular housing, it too features the large grippy blocks of the other turrets as well as a raised triangular grip block at the 4x position to aid in rotation. The magnification, like the parallax was stiff yet smooth to adjust through its 180 degree range, a feature that Steiner has identified as the middle ground of not easy/not to tight to aid in any unwanted or inadvertent adjustments. There was no tunnelling of the FOV observed throughout the magnification range.

The optical clarity of the Steiner is on par with high end riflescopes, and it is from my eye equal to the S&B and PMIIS, great clarity and resolution. I did notice that the eye box was more forgiving for eye relief and head placement at 12x than at 16x. My apologies as these reticle pictures were taken with a handheld point and shoot camera behind the scope so they arent the greatest.

Sorry, no updated pic but I reposted this one for reference to my thoughts in the above paragraph.



Pros:

- Clarity ='s Premier and S&B! But not as good as March. Incredible glass.
- +++ options
- Value for the money to comparable scopes of equal magnification
- Simplicity of use of the turrets
- Rheostats on/off indentations for illumination every other "off" are a *standout feature*
- Low light shooting is stellar
- Ease of use mil-dot/ 1/2 mil-dot
- Turrets ease of use with gloves on
- Zero stop actually stops at zero
- Double turn indicator button that protrudes from below the Elevation turret *standout feature*
- Sunshade included
- Excellent elevation range

Cons:

- Weight 35.3 oz., heavy
- Clicks on turrets are not as crisp on models I looked at, what I received was much better, Steiner will fix if not happy
- It's big! 16.61"
- Some won't like the military look
- At max zoom 16x, a little tricky getting a perfect view
- Butler Creek lens covers (I don't much care for them)
- Eye box was forgiving for eye relief and head placement at 12x than at 16x

When I get some range time, I'll update this thread with some box test results, repeatability, and zero stop use in the field. This summer I'll be posting (hopefully) some hammered critters with the Norma and this fine scope.

I hope you enjoy the read!

Eric
 
By the numbers converted to standard:

- Magnification:4x - 16x
- Objective Size:50mm
- Tube Diameter:34mm
- Field of View @100 (m/y):8.7 - 2.4 / 26.3 - 7.25
- Eye Relief (mm/in.):77 - 90 / 3.0 - 3.4
- Exit Pupil (mm/in.):11.9 - 3.3 / 0.47 - 0.13
- Twilight Factor:14.5 - 27.2
- Length (mm/in.):410 / 16.1
- Weight (grams/oz.) with caps:955 / 33.6
- Battery:CR2450
- Diopter Setting:+2 to -3
- Reticle:G2B Mil Dot
- Elevation Adjustment Knob:Resettable to "O" w/wrench
- Windage/Elevation Adjustment:1cm (0.10 mRAD)
- Elevation Range @ 100 m:195 cm (19.5 mils)
- Windage Range @ 100 m:95 cm (9.5 mils)
- Parallax /Focus Adjust.
- Knob:Turret Mounted, Rotary
- Parallax /Focus Adjustment:50 m to Infinity
- Operating Temperature:-25° / +63°C : -31° / +145.4°F
- Illumination:Rotary Digital Control
 
WOW very info. Also thanks for the great feedback.


Originally Posted By: The VirginianThis scope was purchased from one of our own here on PM; Mike at CS Tactical. He's a stand up guy with first class customer service. Please give him a try if you're in a the market for new optics.

Mike @ CSTACTICAL
 
Originally Posted By: CS TACTICALWOW very info. Also thanks for the great feedback.


Originally Posted By: The VirginianThis scope was purchased from one of our own here on PM; Mike at CS Tactical. He's a stand up guy with first class customer service. Please give him a try if you're in a the market for new optics.

Mike @ CSTACTICAL

Be still my heart! Some actually responded to this review.
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Eric
 
Originally Posted By: The VirginianBe still my heart! Some actually responded to this review.
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Eric

LOL... No problem.

Mike @ CTACTICAL
 
Thanks for the write up and evaluation. I know it takes time to do and I found it interesting and informative.

It's a little of topic, but I have been trying to figure out a way to mount a camera to my bolt gun to use a video Camera. SO far the mount doesn't hold when faced with the recoil of my 22-250.

Does that mount hold when shooting?
 
Originally Posted By: Tbone-AZThanks for the write up and evaluation. I know it takes time to do and I found it interesting and informative.

It's a little of topic, but I have been trying to figure out a way to mount a camera to my bolt gun to use a video Camera. SO far the mount doesn't hold when faced with the recoil of my 22-250.

Does that mount hold when shooting?

Tbone-AZ,

The short answer is yes. It will work on a 22-250, but it's all predicated on how far you tighten the clamp on the ocular bell. If you were PD hunting with many shots than the answer would be no. If going for many shots I would think you will need to re-secure. I hope my insight helps.

Eric
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeEric,
Sorry I missed this earlier. Good write up ! The ret looks like a useable one indeed.

Hope it works well for you !

Thanks Tim!
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Eric
 
Originally Posted By: scouteyesI've been looking at predator series myself. Great glass. Great write up.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review and comment.
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Eric
 
Cool write up Eric, and I especially enjoy the humor thrown in as well.(from The Hobbitt?)

Yeah, I`m not at the point yet for high end optic but someday perhaps...I might also like to put together a rifle that is worthy of quality glass.

Looks like you did some homework on what you wanted and what was available, additionally someone who was good doing business with
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I hope it work real good for you; look forward to updates.
Don
 


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